Best Practices, Carnegie, Outcomes Based Learning, & ABA

Revisions: A Conversation about Current Initiatives &

Reforms in Legal Education

February 2010 By Professor Mary Lynch

Director, Albany Law’s CELT

Today’s Objectives:I. Overview of the legal education reform

documents & initiatives

II. Curricular Initiatives & Teaching Advancements

III. Roger Williams – Where are you? Where do you want to be?

PRE- TEST: Roger Williams, Where are you now?

= Feel comfortably informed

= Have thought about it but need more information

= Minimal knowledge about this topic

I) Legal Education Reform Movement

Studies law school as an educational model

3 areas stand out as in need of reform• Curriculum• Teaching• Assessment / Evaluation

The Tipping Point

By Roy Stuckey and Others

By William SullivanAnne Colby

Judith Welch WegnerLloyd BondLee S. Shulman

ABA Section of Legal Education &

Admissions to the Bar Outcomes

Report

• Comparative Study: “Preparation for the Professions Program” – Part of a comparative study of 5

“public” professions: clergy, physicians, nurses, engineers, and lawyers.

• The Research Team:– Law professor, former dean,

psychologist, philosopher, Carnegie Foundation President, and Vice President, former Dean of Stanford Law, and psychological measurement and assessment specialist

• Team Activities:– Met law schools’ admission counsel,

LSAT, LSAC visited 16 law schools, consulted with AALS, reviewed legal education literature.

The Signature Pedagogy of all professional fields: “ Teach Students how to think, perform & conduct themselves like professionals.”

1.) THINK – intellectual analysis, university teaching

2.) PERFORM – expert practice shared by competent practitioners. (Simulated Practice settings/ Case Studies / Actual Clinic Experience with Real Clients)

3.) ETHICAL / SOCIAL – introduce students to the purposes and attitudes that are guided by the values for which the professional community is responsible

The “near exclusive” focus of law schools on systemic abstraction from actual social context has two major defects:

1.) The casual attention given “to teaching students how to use legal thinking in the complexity of actual law practice.”

2.) The failure to complement the focus on skill in legal analysis with effective support for developing the ethical and social dimensions of the profession.

“The focus of legal education should be to create professionals who are both competent and responsible to clients and the public.”

– Respect for rule of law– Commitment to make the legal

system work for benefit of society

– Integrity in dealing with others– Sensitivity and effectiveness in

dealing with diverse clients and colleagues

The One Minute Paper

The would be a good place for a one minute paper. How many of you have heard of one minute papers? Do you use them?

• Set Goals

• Organize Program of Instruction

• Deliver Instruction

• Assess Student Learning

• Evaluate Success of Program of Instruction

SETTING INSTITUTIONAL GOALS.

demonstrate a commitment to preparing students for barexaminations and for law practice.

Law schools should shift from content-focused programs of instruction to outcomes-focused programs of instruction

Develop competent legal problem solvers.

Assist students in acquiring attributes of effective, responsible lawyers: self-reflection & life long learning skills

intellectual and analytical skills core knowledge and understanding of lawprofessional skillsprofessionalism

Assessing Student Learning Use formative as well as summative assessments Use multiple and diverse assessment methods Include criteria-referenced assessments (UK is well

ahead of US on this).

Evaluating the Success of the Program of Instruction Regularly evaluate their effectiveness and use best

practices for conducting such evaluations.

• Writing & Problem Solving Across the Curriculum

• Prompt Feedback to Students

• Formative & Multiple Assessments

• Integrated & Progressive Curriculum

• More Opportunity to engage in Experiential Learning; the exercise of professional jdgmt.

• Emphasis on Professional Identity & Purpose from Orientation to Graduation

CELT & The Best Practices Blog

• Best Practices for Legal Education Bloghttp://bestpracticeslegaled.albanylawblogs.org

• Center for Excellence in Law Teaching (CELT)www.teachinglawstudents.com

Group Work? • Do any of you engage students in small group work of any

type in class?

• SMALL GROUP WORK: This would be a good time to do some kind of group work. Pair and Share on BP. Or small group of 4 to 5. can determine method at beginning of semester and put groups in your syllabus. CELT has some material.

PAIR AND SHARE: Ask learners to turn to person in next seat. Each Learner has one minute to on describe to the other the top 3 points just learned about BP. Or ask learners to discuss with each other what you understood – what needs more clarification? Then have groups report back with each successive group only adding new info.

ABA Report on Outcome MeasuresJuly 2008 Report

• http://www.teachinglawstudents.com –Student Outcomes page.

• ABA Taskforce Recommendation: “Re-examine the existing Standards and Interpretations for the purpose of moving towards a greater emphasis on outcome measures.” (pg. 64)

Comprehensive Review of ABA Standards 2009 – 2010

• 2009-2010 Standards and Rules of Procedure for Approval of Law Schools

(Also available at www.teachinglawstudents.com)

AT THE END OF THE DAY….What does this mean for law

faculty and deans?

• Curricular Initiatives

• Teaching Development

• Future Assessment Mandates

CURRICULAR REFORM• Dayton – “Lawyer as a Problem Solver”

Three curriculum tracks designed to focus students’ course of study on anticipated area of practice.

• Washington & Lee – Reinvented the 3rd year to make it a year of professional development through simulated and actual practice experiences.

• Case Western – “CaseARC Integrated Lawyering Skills Program”Classes are taught by teams of professors. Combining legal theory and policy with legal doctrine and lawyering skills.

TEACHING DEVELOPMENT

•Focus on Learning Goals (anticipated student learning outcomes) for Each Course, each class session

•Active Learning - ( e.g, small group work, pair and share, simulations)

• More Emphasis on Formative Assessment

•Use Of Rubrics Beyond the Lawyering Program!!

Summative Assessment

• An evaluation of what a student knows at a particular time, usually at the end of a lesson or course. Often used to indicate a student’s achievement in relation to others, or established learning objectives. – Example: typical law school final examination

Formative Assessment• Assessments which are designed to provide

feedback to students and to faculty. – Allows students to indentify and address areas of

misunderstanding.

– Allows professors to evaluate their presentation of class material.

– Not necessary to give feedback to every student.

– Need not be used to assign grades or rank students.

– Examples: midterms, quizzes; one minute papers,

The Assessment CycleGoals & Objectives

Assessment Method

Teaching andLearning Activities

Assessment Results

Assessment Examples• Mid-terms – graded or ungraded.

• Quizzes

• Student Response Systems (Clickers) –Wireless electronic polling system allowing professors to collect and analyze student comprehension of polled material in real time. http://www.albanylaw.edu/sub.php?navigation_id=1218

• 1 Minute Papers – Assess student reaction or understanding. Provides immediate feedback to instructor. Encourages active participation. Easily administered in large or small classes.

Assessment Resources• Center for Excellence in Law Teaching (CELT) – Assessment Page

www.teachinglawstudents.com .

• Institute for Law Teaching and Learning (Gonzaga & Washburn)

• Legal Education at the Crossroads v. 3.0 Conference (Denver)

• The Assessment Process: One School’s Experience (.ppt), by Dean Lori Shaw, Dayton School of Law. Available at www.abanet.org/legaled .

POST -TEST: Roger Williams, Where are you now?

= Feel comfortably informed

= Have thought about it but need more information

= Minimal knowledge about this topic

III. WHAT WILL YOU DO?